The potential for generative AI to change the way legal professionals work is clear – the challenge is cutting through the hype and finding a product best suited to an organisation’s specific needs.
Given how fast the technology is evolving and the ever-expanding range of GenAI tools available on the market, legal leaders need to ensure they are asking the right questions when looking at what tools to invest in. Ben Firth, Thomson Reuters’ director of sales and customer success for legal, Europe, explains the key steps legal leaders should take when considering GenAI tools.
What questions should firms be asking themselves when considering adopting AI tools?
The most important question they should be asking when considering adopting any AI tool is: ‘What’s the problem I’m trying to solve?’ There’s always a fear with new tech that it’s searching for a problem to solve rather than the other way around. So, ask yourself what the problem is and work backwards from that. In legal, work is highly complex and there will be thousands of opportunities to apply GenAI. Law firms also have to think carefully about change management and how they address cultural differences and technical challenges. Change management, in our experience, is most successful when a firm settles on a single, pressing use case and delivers value before expanding into other use cases. We spend a lot of time asking those questions, consulting with firms and helping guide them towards the right solution.
Once they know what they are looking for, how should they approach selecting the most appropriate tools?
Their selection should be driven by the problem they’re trying to solve, and the ability of the solution to solve it. There is an explosion of offerings out there, especially in the startup space, so it can be daunting as a buyer to actually find the tech that fits the need, even if you have capacity to trial several solutions. There’s a lot of choice.
It’s important to note that it’s not always the tools in isolation that prove the value, it’s about workflows. At Thomson Reuters, we’re particularly focused on workflows linking tools together at the moment to deliver the best overall experience.
Tech is moving extremely fast right now, so dig in with your vendor and ask questions about where the product or platform is going
What questions should firms be asking potential vendors about these tools to gauge suitability?
It’s crucial to understand what use cases a particular solution supports. There’s a lot of noise out there, so you need to hone in on the use cases. Is the vendor candid about the solution as well as its limitations? Ask about accuracy, user interface, experience and where the data that is entered into the AI tool is being kept. Ask about security and confidentiality measures – this is all information that a vendor should be able to supply.
It’s also important to ask about their roadmap. Tech is moving extremely fast right now, so dig in with your vendor and ask questions about where the product or platform is going. Some AI solutions in the market are in really rapid development, with new capabilities emerging daily – can the vendor demonstrate an ability to continuously update and innovate as needed? They should be able to articulate the vision as a clear roadmap for the short term and in the long term.
You also need to think about how the firm will be supported. Loads of solutions are very intuitive and easy to use, but it’s really important to be set up for success through implementation and ongoing customer support. With that in mind, we’re investing heavily in our customer success team at Thomson Reuters, and we’ve equipped it with industry knowledge, both technical and legal.
How should firms approach testing these tools?
With clarity about how the work is currently done, how long it takes and the output so that they have a baseline to benchmark performance against. They should also work with the vendor to understand the capabilities of the solution to ensure it is being tested for the right job and in the right way, so that they get the most accurate results. We run proof of concepts (POCs) within Thomson Reuters with our law firm partners to help them establish the right starting position. Successful POCs are achieved when both parties work together to create that success. Testing a solution with no guidance will not create the same results as working with a dedicated client success team. A successful POC will naturally run into a go-live experience within the team as they are already set up and running fast with the tech.
As I mentioned, we’ll work with the law firm to focus on a single use case, or maybe a specific team or a specific department, to build the POC based on these requirements. That then evolves through success criteria, almost like gates the client would go through, to achieve their goals. The solution they choose to evaluate should go through extensive testing with humans always in the loop – this technology needs humans for success.
What are the best practices for integrating and getting wider buy-in for this technology?
It’s always best when the demand for a solution to a specific pain point is coming from the end users, rather than being imposed from the top down. User advocates are your most powerful resource. A busy lawyer doesn’t want to be the guinea pig but they will be happy to be a fast follower once they’ve seen colleagues realising the benefits.
Preparation is also key as lawyers are very, very busy people, and so if they find the onboarding experience difficult or delayed, you could quickly lose them. At Thomson Reuters we will support the law firm and all of its users through every step of that journey. We understand that not every firm is going to have the resources to support and train all the users on a regular basis themselves, so firms need to have confidence that they will not be left alone and that we, as a trusted partner, will help get them through those gates of success.
The potential for generative AI to change the way legal professionals work is clear – the challenge is cutting through the hype and finding a product best suited to an organisation’s specific needs.
Given how fast the technology is evolving and the ever-expanding range of GenAI tools available on the market, legal leaders need to ensure they are asking the right questions when looking at what tools to invest in. Ben Firth, Thomson Reuters’ director of sales and customer success for legal, Europe, explains the key steps legal leaders should take when considering GenAI tools.
Their selection should be driven by the problem they’re trying to solve, and the ability of the solution to solve it. There is an explosion of offerings out there, especially in the startup space, so it can be daunting as a buyer to actually find the tech that fits the need, even if you have capacity to trial several solutions. There’s a lot of choice.
